The Spine of Sotek is a great mountain range that runs down the west-central coast of the continent of Lustria. It is named after the Lizardmen deity Sotek.
The Spine of Sotek is a great mountain range named after the Lizardmen deity Sotek that runs north to south along the entire length of western Lustria.
The mountains are home to hundreds of volcanoes, which makes crossing the range extremely hazardous. Mighty glaciers are found there too, making their gradual, grinding progress down the valleys almost to the jungles. The mountains are dotted with Lizardmen sites, though many are disused and stand mysteriously empty despite never having been touched by war.[1a]
The part of the mountain range in the tropical regions of Lustria has the same enhancements the Old Ones bequeathed on the surrounding jungles, enabling the resident large flying reptiles to dominate the skies and their terrestrial Cold One kin to roam its tangled woodland slopes. Cave openings leading to caverns hide dangers, known and unknown, in the depths of the land.[1b]
The southern part of the Spine of Sotek bordering the Culchan Plains has the same climate as those temperate regions. Glaciers form in the high mountain valleys of the range and feed the streams that water the grasslands. Small, humpless camels called glamas graze on the mountain slopes and are, in turn, preyed upon by tawny Lustrian mountain cats. Mountain jacas, relatives of the savannah jacas, live in the alpine valleys of the southern, temperate range of the Spine of Sotek.[1b]
The mountains are impassable to all but the most well-equipped and trained climbers. The Chasm of the Condor provides the only straightforward route through the mountains, though the great pass is guarded by the Lizardmen who inhabit the ruins of the temple-city of Xhotl, and they do not take kindly to intruders.[1a]
Skinks make use of copper and precious metals, and operate many mines in the Spine of Sotek and Grey Guardian mountain ranges.[1c] Stone is also quarried from the Spine of Sotek, which is then used in projects such as the rebuilding of Huatl.[1d]
Trivia[]
The Spine of Sotek is geographically analogous to the real world geography of the Andes mountain range in South America. Similarly, the glama are likely a reference to llamas as well as their undomesticated relatives the guanaco who are native to the Andean mountains.